The Italian version of the Social Comparison Rating Scale and the Submissive Behaviour Scale: Reliability and validity in a sample of adolescents

Abstract

Social rank theory argues that social comparison and submissive behaviour are mechanisms by which humans and animals form themselves into social ranks. Design: this study assesses the psychometric properties of Italian versions of the Social Comparison Rating Scale-SCRS and Submissive Behaviour Scale-SBS in a sample of adolescents. The samples consisted of a clinical group (N = 200) and a non-clinical group (N = 1991). The non-clinical group allowed us to obtain two random samples used for the EFA and the CFA; moreover, we also extracted a Retest sample consisting of 219 subjects. Internal consistency was satisfactory and the factor structures were similar to the original version of the measures. The SBS and SCRS were significantly correlated with all the symptom profiles on the SCL-90-R, in both populations. Clinical populations had higher correlations with these measures. Statistical analyses showed a good fit to the data, replicating the constructs of the original scales. These results confirm that submissive behaviour and social comparison are associated with mental health problems.